“My Lord!”, Zola cried. “My Lord, you cannot possibly mean to leave me with them.”
“Actually, I do. You see, Zola, you have served your purpose. I finally have two pure-blood descendants of Efia St. Clair and I no longer have need of you.”
Grigor turned toward me and smiled. He looked more hungry than happy. He walked over to where we stood and picked up a fallen pillow. I prayed that he wouldn’t notice the spine and the ribbing had been removed.
“You two intrigue me. Breaking into my compound to free a mother you never knew. How heroic. Your ancestors would have been proud.”
“Where are our brothers and Violeta?” Chloe asked shakily.
“Aw, your brothers. They are being prepped as we speak. And Violeta is being punished for her betrayal.”
It was still hard to believe that Violeta had once been a member of Grigor’s flock. Even though she was under his control at the time, Violeta still felt guilt and shame about her past. I knew why she trained me so hard. She knew what I was going to face when I confronted Grigor. I concentrated on all of those long hours of training. I wouldn’t let her down.
“Look, Grigor,” I began, “I'll make you a deal.”
“A deal?” Grigor threw his head back and laughed so loudly that everyone in the room jumped. “Why, my dear child, would you believe that you are in a position to deal?”
“Because, I can help you track down other descendants.” I hoped this bluff would work. “Efia said that only pure-bloods could track them properly. I can do it, if you let my family go.”
I waited while Grigor gave this some thought. He looked at Raphael, who had a surprised expression on his face, and then returned his gaze to me. Under his scrutiny I began to sweat. He was trying to read me and I tried not to squirm as I held my shields in place. Chloe tensed beside me and realized that he was trying to read her reaction to my statement as well. After a long minute, the sensation left and Grigor clapped his hands like a child on Christmas morning.
“Deal!”, He said, victoriously.
Grigor turned and strode out of the door with Raphael and his flunkies on his heels. Grateful that my bluff seemed to work, I smiled and turned toward Chloe. My smile immediately faded when I saw her face. Chloe looked like I had slapped her.
“Chlo, what’s wrong?”
“Cheyenne, you don’t know what you have done.”
Chloe was distraught. She walked over to the couch, careful not to get too close to Zola. She bent down and retrieved the metal ribbing and then turned to face me.
“But, Chlo, if he believed me then he'll let you go and you can get help.”
Chloe looked up at me, her large brown eyes filling with tears. She opened her mouth to speak before closing it again. She did this so many times that she reminded me of a goldfish. I grabbed her shoulders and made her focus on my face before I spoke again.
“Look, this might work.”
“No, Cheyenne, it won’t,” Chloe said with such conviction.
“Why?”
“Because, stupid,” Zola laughed from where she had fallen. “You CAN track down other descendants. And now he knows how to make you!”
Chapter 25
I looked back and forth between Zola and Chloe. Zola had a grin on her face while Chloe was looking down at her shoes. I had a sinking feeling that there was still more to the story than anyone had told me. My legs went weak and I sat straight down on the floor putting my head in my hands.
Thoughts were racing through my mind as I gathered the facts together: first, I was bred to literally feed the needs of an insane vampire; second, I was raised by a woman who would have betrayed me on my 18th birthday by turning me over to said Vampire; third, the best friend I have ever had was a member of the same Vampire family that I belonged to and fourth, I was probably a blood descendant magnet. Was everyone trying to use me? Is that all I was good for…for finding Efia’s descendants before Grigor? I had never in my life felt so hopeless.
I sat there on the cold floor for what seemed like an eternity. Chloe was smart not to try to comfort me but Zola was trying my patience by her continual commentary on the last few month’s events. Somehow, Grigor had known of all of my movements, either before or just as they had happened. He had not shared his knowledge with Raphael because he did not want to alert Zander to any mole in our organization. Zola was quite proud that Grigor had held her in such confidence and she seemed to forget that he appeared to be throwing her aside for me; The Prophesied One.
“Mother,” I said shakily, trying to see if I could get some information from her. “Mom?”
Zola stopped her marathon ranting to look in my direction. Now that we were not running I could study her more. She looked like a combination of all of her children; at least the ones that I knew. She was a beautiful woman and yet there was evil surrounding her as if it were part of her aura. She craved whatever it was that Grigor had offered her; craved it enough to bear children for him to sacrifice. Now, this woman, my mother, was looking at me as if I was her path to glory.
“Yes,” she answered, tilting her head.
“What is really going on? I mean, you could have had it all with Efia. Why betray her and join Grigor?”
“Betray her? She must have you brainwashed. Efia was never going to Embrace me. She was going to use me just like Grigor. I was the descendant that would bear The Prophesied One. There are only a few of us, you and I. The mother daughter combination has to be concise for it to work. Efia knew it would be me the moment I was born. She was going to breed me and then have me locked away in a tower to rot. I was the one who was betrayed!”
Zola spoke so vehemently and with so much passion that I had to look at Chloe to see if there was any truth in her words. Chloe was staring at Zola as if this was all news to her. Could it be that there was more secrecy? Chloe, having been raised by Efia, would have known everything there was to know. She appeared to know a great deal more than me. Was it possible that both Chloe and I were played as fools? If that was the case, why would Efia sacrifice the others on this quest to rescue Zola? There were far too many questions for one evening and I was growing restless sitting there on the floor.
I stood up and had to stomp on my left leg to get the circulation back. The third stomp sounded hollow. There must be a sub-floor and possibly a crawl space. Chloe glanced in my direction having seen me pause. Zola, on the other hand, was still talking. She was quite happy to slander Efia’s name in one breath and praise Grigor in the other. If I had not been wrapped up in this horrible ordeal, I would almost believe that she had chosen the right side. But, I was wrapped up in it and I had to believe that Efia was being true to me. I had to believe that there was a reason she had kept me in the dark about the prophecy. Believing in her was all I had.
The window was much too high to see out of, so any escape attempt would be done without knowledge of our location. I tried to move some of the air around but Chloe cleared her throat loudly, coughing as if she was choking. Once she stopped coughing I realized that we were in silence. Zola had stopped ranting and was staring at the two of us. Apparently even the slightest bit of energy would alert Zola to our powers; she was our mother after all. I patted Chloe on the back and pretended that her coughing fit was real. This was no time to let the cat out of the bag.
Zola kept looking at us while we walked the perimeter of the room. We didn’t dare speak to each other but we stayed close enough to have eye contact. On my twelfth trip around the room, I noticed inconsistencies in the ceiling tiles. There were cameras in even intervals so I was careful not to look directly at them. The walls were paneled with oak wood and appeared to have speakers concealed behind wood-like screens. We were in a fish bowl and Grigor was waiting for us to slip up and reveal something that he didn’t already know.
I decided to test the theory on my next lap around. I began to nod at Chloe as if we had come to some sort of agreement. Chloe, though slightly dumbfounded, followed my lead and we both started to
steal glances at Zola. After a few moments, Zola nodded at one of the cameras. She didn't move much more than a centimeter, but her action was caught by whoever was watching us because the door swung open and Raphael walked in. This time, alone.
I was closest to the door when he walked in and I was just about to jump on him when a little bit of air push at me. Chloe shook her head slightly. Not happy to miss the opportunity for escape but fully trusting that Chloe would not purposely steer me wrong, I stayed where I was. Zola, on the other hand, had not only felt my energy earlier, but had just felt Chloe’s and was on her feet walking toward Raphael.
“Lord Oleander was right to leave me in here,” Zola was saying. “These two know far more than they are letting on. And they have their powers already. Why can’t you feel them? Aren’t you supposed to be Grigor’s idiot savant or something?”
“I am his Savant but I am not an idiot. Besides, Lord Oleander himself looked into their minds and found no latent powers. They are powerless vessels.”
“No, you idiot. They must have had training to keep you out of their minds. I tell you, both of them have done that thing with the air since I have been in here. And, it is a good thing that I was here to witness it…now I can tell Lord Oleander what I discovered. Take me to him!”
Raphael laughed.
“You don’t understand. Since they are both void of latent powers, and you have yet to produce a proper vessel, you are obsolete. We will drain the two of them and dispose of you. We may have found two other descendants; she is not The Prophesied One.”
And with that, Raphael pushed Zola away from door and left. The door locked with a loud click. Zola stared at the door.
It took a few moments for her to realize that she truly had been betrayed.. Reality hit her and the flood gates loosed a horrible monster. She flung herself at the door and began banging and clawing on the unforgiving metal. Her screams were that of horror movies but twice as convincing. With every hit and scrape of the door, Zola’s hands became more scraped and bloody.
While she was preoccupied with the door and giving Grigor and Raphael the small piece of her mind that was left, I walked over to the hollow spot in the floor and tapped it to see how big of an opening we would be dealing with. I hoped there was room for a human body to move through. Zola was still screaming when I knelt to feel for a latch that would allow me access to the floor. The floor was flush and I couldn’t see any way for us to get it to move except to use our powers. Even though there were cameras, I had to believe that Raphael had lost interest. Nevertheless, we would have to move quickly if we were going to succeed.
As long as Zola was making a scene, the cameras would be on her. I blew out a quick breath and saw the floorboards lift slightly then inhaled so they would drop back into place. Chloe was on the other side of the room when I caught her eye. I held up three fingers so that only she could see them, positioned myself so my body was blocking the floorboard from the camera’s view and exhaled again. The entire piece of floor lifted to waist level revealing a set of stairs. It would take more luck than we had to find the others and escape before Grigor sent his goons after us. But then I remembered what Zola had said; I could find the descendants.
“Chlo,” I whispered, “how do I find them?”
I didn’t want to say anymore and alert Zola to our plans. She would jump at the chance to use our escape as leverage with Grigor. Apparently realizing what I wanted to know, Chloe placed her pointer finger on the center of her forehead and wrinkled her nose as if in deep concentration. She did it so quickly that I was not sure I understood. Turning around I placed the palm of my hand to my forehead and pushed, trying to concentrate on that part of my brain. I didn't think I was up to it until I saw an image of Jordan appear before my eyes. A scream caught in my throat and I lowered my hand before I drew any attention to myself. What I had seen had scared the mess out of me and now I fought to stop shaking.
Jordan and Zander were in small cages in a very large room. Each cage had spiked-iron bars intersecting in the middle. At the moment, none of the spikes were touching them but I saw fear and pity in their eyes. I understood why they looked that way when I saw Violeta on the outside of the cages. She had a collar around her neck and was being forced to the floor by some unseen force. Every time she was asked to operate the device that would spear one of my brothers with an iron spike, she shook her head and received her punishment. I couldn’t see who was speaking to her or where they were standing but I assumed it was Grigor.
Anger rolled through me. In fact, I was so angry that I stopped shaking and walked over to Zola. Before Chloe could stop me, I had grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her head against the door. I felt her head rear back as she tried to stop the second impact, but I over-powered her and she dropped to the ground. There was a satisfying splatter of blood on the door. It felt good to shut her up.
In one motion, I turned and blew all of the air out of my lungs and grabbed Chloe’s hand. We ran for the airborne piece of floorboard and slid into the opening like baseball players, inhaling to lower the floor back into place. It would only be a matter of minutes before they noticed we were gone so we had to make good time.
Running at top speed when you know where you are going is one thing. Doing it in the dark when you have no idea where you are going is a different story. I thought Grigor was crazy with this prophesy crap, but I did feel my brothers' presence and followed its theoretical scent. Chloe was right on my heels and we rounded corner after corner in a labyrinth like maze. The tunnel we were in emptied into a small room with three doors.
We stopped to catch our breath but I couldn’t figure out which way we should continue. Behind one door was the sound of rushing water. Chloe stood in front of another and put her fingers to her lips. We listened to the sound of footsteps growing louder. There was more than one person headed in our direction through that tunnel and we had to think quick.
I grabbed Chloe’s hand and we ducked into the center tunnel, pressing our backs against the wall. A dozen of Grigor’s men come into the room and ran in the direction we had just come from. As soon as the last man was out of sight I started to move back into the room when someone grabbed me around the waist and put their hand over my mouth.
I threw an elbow and my head back at the same time to try to optimize the damage to my attacker but he or she was too short and too quick for me to make contact.
“Will you stop?” a familiar voice said, throwing me into a déjà vu moment.
“Really? Tabitha, what the heck?” I whispered. I pretended to be annoyed that she had caught me unaware yet again, but I was so happy inside that I could have cried.
“Where is your mother?”
“Chey beat her up and we left her behind,” Chloe volunteered.
“Sorry, Chey. I know that you hoped for a happy reunion. Let's find the others. Any idea where they were taken?”
“Yeah,” I said cautiously. “I think I can find them.”
“What do you mean, you think?”
Tabitha eyed me like I was playing a joke on her. Even though it was my brothers we were talking about I had to remind myself that Tabitha and Jordan were engaged to be married. I had to be right about this.
“I think I can find them if I concentrate.”
“Chloe, have you been telling her stories again?” Tabitha sounded mad. She turned away and started pacing back and forth in front of us like an angry school marm.
“Look, we have no time for fairytales. Either you know where they are or not. But don’t give me this crap about being able to 'sense their presence'.”
I looked at Chloe and it broke my heart to see her looking at the ground with tears streaming down her face. I had only had a little sister for a few months but it will be a cold day in a hot place before I let someone make her cry.
“No, you look. You asked me to believe in Vampires and Stewards and Fare. You asked me not to judge you when you drank from the veins of a human donor like it'
s Starbucks coffee! You have known Chloe all of her life. Does she seem like the kind of person to make something up?”
I was so angry that I was all but yelling at her. I stood right in front of her and crossed my arms to keep from striking out.
“And besides, she’s right. I CAN sense them and we were headed to rescue them when you showed up.”
Tabitha looked between Chloe and I for several minutes before she spoke. I could tell she wanted to discount what we were saying but she couldn’t argue with the facts: Chloe never lied. She took a deep breath and went against every ounce of her being as she signaled for me to lead the way. The only problem was that I had lost the sense of them. I just couldn’t seem to concentrate. The day had taken in toll on me and my body and mind were exhausted. I closed my eyes but couldn’t see them. All that I could see was red. No, not red, blood. I could see blood and feel it running down my throat like sweet nectar. I opened my eyes and saw Tabitha looking at me strangely. She tilted her head to the side and sniffed at the air before she turned and walked out of the tunnel.
“Out!” she said.
I wondered who she was talking to until four figures came walking out of the same tunnel Grigor’s men had been in. I blinked my eyes to be sure I was not seeing things, but my vision proved true. Standing in the small room dressed in all black military suits were my and Chloe’s Fare. They were the reason I was seeing and tasting blood.
“What the heck are you doing here? You followed us?” Tabitha was on fire and I didn’t blame her. It was far too dangerous for us to be here let alone four Fare.
“No, we followed Chloe. We couldn’t let her come by herself.” Landon spoke with such conviction that Tabitha stopped in her tracks. It was true that the connection between a Vampire and their fare was strong, but Chloe had yet to be Embraced. This could either go very well or blow up in our faces.
Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) Page 25